Ten Pound Poms

Not an unforgettable drama or a terrible one, somewhere in the middle. One of those shows where you should probably bail if the characters and storyline in the first episode don't grab you.

It had decent production values, with a few sound and lighting wobbles and a solid ensemble cast. Michelle Keegan's character felt a bit far-fetched in some of her endeavours, but fans will no doubt forgive her. One of its strengths was the number of strong female characters.

If you get on board with the first episode stay with it, if you don't jump ship as it continues along the same path.

On the downside there was a lot of heavy-handed messaging that didn't need to be there.

I was a member of the family of £10 poms at around the same time as this drama is set and, although I was around 5, I have many vivid memories of that time as well as overhearing stories when my parents and their friends got together. Granted we only stayed on the hostel for around six months but I got the impression it was an exciting time for adults as well as kids. Maybe we were lucky being so close to the beach and the relatively big urban area of Wollongong. Our hostel was Balgownie, not to be confused with the fictitious 'Galgownie' which seemed to be simultaneously in the Outback and near the beach! Most hostels, in NSW at least, were near major urban centres and were nothing like depicted in the show. Jobs were plentiful and we were given a house in pretty short order. Most of the streets in the equivalent of UK council housing areas were 50/50 Aussie and mainly British immigrant families. There was never a hint of xenophobia from the Aussies and everyone just got on...probably down to the shared experience of WW2. Diggers and Tommies sharing war stories. Southern European immigrants probably weren't so lucky. Not exactly a premise for riveting drama, so can't really blame the makers for ratcheting up the tensions and concentrating them in a short time frame. Just don't watch it as a documentary!

Considering this is supposed to be 1956 I'm pretty sure designer stubble wasn't a thing then it's just not correct it just tries to appeal to modern life .

The two main women characters look more like 1940s with hairstyles from that period and Oxford bags weren't worn by women in mid 50s they would be in capri pants or narrow trousers . When the women are dressed up they are wearing just below the knee sun dresses this length didn't become fashionable until late 1950s.

This reminds me of heartbeat maybe that's the style setting somewhere loosely between 1940and 1965.apart from that it's very watchable.

I've often wondered why the Aussies call us whinging poms. After watching this six part BBC drama it would seem they had a lot to whinge about. Placed in cockroach infested one bedroom huts on some multi national camp in the middle of nowhere.

Whilst the show has some high quality production, with some impressive CGI and great attention to detail from the period. It's unfortunately let down with some just plane daft storylines like Michele Keegans character travelling the other side of the world in search of her son, after drugging her fiancé who seamed a perfectly decent bloke to go after her son.

Our Australian friends don't come out of the series to well with most being stereotyped as hard drinking wife beating foul mouthed Aborigines hater's.

Overall it feels like a wasted opportunity as the story itself is a fascinating one about a forgotten part of Anglo Australian history.

6/10.

The first episode starts very well then it takes a nose dive. The cinematography and acting is superb, it is let down by a very weak script. Other reviews call it 'soap opera' drama and I tend to agree.

The writers had an amazing opportunity here to write a period drama delving in to the issues of the time. Instead we get a bloated over dramatic 'modern show' with nothing new.

If this is renewed for a 2nd season. I hope they tighten up the story focus on fewer characters giving the audience a chance to become invested. And for god sake leave the modern drama tropes behind. There is reality tv for that.